Lubricating system



June 9, 1931. H. G. sANGER ET A1.

LUBRICATING SYSTEM Filed April 16. 1928 Patented-...lunga 1931 AQTSSPATE l. 1 IIARRYJG. sANsER .AND FLOYD F. xIsnLrNn, or DETROIT; MICHIGAN; AssisNoRs To GRAHAM-,narran MOTORS CORPORATION, OF'DETNOIT, MICHIGAN, A cOnrORATION or MICHIGAN r y l. v Application filed Apri116,

. j4 has particular reference to a control means 5' fora lubricating system of this character.

An obi ect offthis invention is to vprovide a! lubricating system having means yfor deliver-4 ing a special'quantity oflubrlcant to those parts vof, 'an internal combustion"` 'engine 10 which'require special lubrication when ythe engine'is cold, andfis jus'tstarting into mo'- tion. Y z f L Y 'f' A'ffurther obj-ect of this invention is to n Aprovide means `for delivering Vthe aforesaid 15: special quantity yof lubricant, which" meansv will be entirely automatic inits Operation,

` 4A'still further Objectof this inventionis tof provide means for controllingthe deliv,-

ery-Of a lubricant in dependence uponrthe temperature ofthe' engine, and in gpartlcula'r, meansywhich will'be operable in dependence upon' the' temperature of a lHuid,v the temperature owhich varies in accordance with the operation of the. engine.

ing description proceeds particularly when. reference is had to the accompanying draw# ings wherein: Figure l isa en'throughthe structurefshownfin Figure 1. kIn the, modern construction" of internal combustion engines, particular `attention .Y is

being directed tothe provision lof meanslfor n andiexcessive wear is due to'insuilicient or no lubrication wheny theengme is Astarted cold minum pistons are used and the modern trend ofautomobile manufacturersv is to use 50 aluminum pistons to alarge extent.' `lurther,

I ard practice.

Other objects 'and advantages of this in-`V vention will beco'meapparent as theffollowsemi-diagrammatic plan?j view of aninternalcombustlon engine'fshow` ing the'i'nvention applledtothe same;

Figure 3 is atransverse sectional viewtak-l eliminating 'the iscufng Aof Lithe 'pistonsn Many testshavevbeenfconducted and ity has? been; found). that the cause of piston Ascuiing' and that the sculing can inno waybe attrib LIIBRIGATINGVSYSTEM s the wearr does not` stopf at the pistonsjandffcylinders `for it has beenv found that the lack iosi l,

of initial lubrication is -a 'considerable factorV 'i invalve tappet, valve tappety guide andpiston. pin wear.` TheVpresent-invention con* templates the provisionoi means vto preclude the possibility ofv this lack of lubrication when starting a cold engine'j Referring now particularly tov-the 'draw-.f

ings wherein like referencecharacters desig- .nate v.corresponding Vparts'y throughout" all views, 10 vdesignates the block ofanl internal combustion Venginey which block is fpr'ovidedj with a' plurality lof cylinders 1l and the jtapr pet brackets 12 in accordance with the stand? Ta pets 13gar-e `mounted for' hebracliets'lQ, these Ltap- Y pets .being adaptedv to actuate Ithe v'valves llland being themselves actu-'ated bythe earns- 15' Pistons 16 are mounted forIreciproca-Av tion lin thecylinders ll', these pistonsbeing' recipro'cation in t provided;in'accordancewith the usual prac-r ing kpiston' 'rings not." shown) f ytice, with the annular grooves 17 for receivlv spray of lubricantl to the 4cylinder 'walls'- 1 I during theinitial starting of the enginey and" while4 the engine-is. cold. `To.accomplishg this, there vis provided 'a l:lubricant chamber QOadapted to receive llubricant "underfpres! sure' througha conduit '2l vfrein .suitable source (not shown). In actual practice theV lubricant chamber" 2O is adapted to'be mounted in` the' force/feed lubricating sys- "A i tem of the internal combustion 'engine whereby lubricantl 'under' pressure will `be? lo y Supplied to thev chamber 20. L

As showin-the chamberQOmay be 'liiount-i`90f clearly understood that'y this chamber may .f i

ed on one sideof the block 10 but itis tofbe be mounted at any point on the engine Oron Y the vehicle in which the engine is installed.1`

In fact'it rmight be desirable to mount this chamber 2O Onthe instrument board "along with-the other instruments usually located atthis -point.- In any gevent, l10wever',

wherever the chamber 20is mounted; it' isf `f i preferable that thisfcliamber be flocatedfat a point: above the level Ofthejlubricant Scon-V f ducting passages hereinafter to be described.

For supplying a constant fiow of lubricant under pressure to theV tappets 13, the conduits 22 are provided. As illustrated, these conduits may extend from opposite ends of therchamber 2O and may communicate with passages 23 extending transversely of the block 10, which passages in turn communicate at their ends with passages 24: CX-Y passage 26 which extends upwardly from tending longitudinally of theV block 1() and opening into the brackets 12. As illustrated, the passages 24 may be so arranged as to cause the lubricant to flow lthrough each bracket 12 in order to reach the nextbracltet which is spaced further from the outlet ofA preferably be formed as passages withinthe engine block.V Accordingly there is 'provided within the block 10,- a passage 25 which extends longitudinally of they-block and which is arranged adjacentthe sides of the vcylinders 11. The passage 25 is .below the level of the chamber 2O and communicateswith the chamber 20 by means of a thefpassage 25 andioutwardly through the side of the block 10 where it` opens into the chamber 2O.,` Above the level of the pas sage25, each cylinder wall is provided with an aperture 27 and as clearly illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing, this aperture 27 is preferablylocated in the cylinder wally at av point opposite the lowermost groove 17 in thepiston 16 when thepistonis at the end of its down stroke. The apertures 2,7 are arranged in' communication with the passage 25by means of the short-passagesv 23 which eXtendf'upwardly at spaced points f from the passage 25 and then laterally yto connect with the apertures 27.

Asbrought'out before, the present inven- -tion contemplates the provision of means wherebythe lubricant will be supplied to the cylinder walls only during the starting of a cold engine. Accordingly thev passage 26atthe ypoint where it opens into the chamber 2O isv provided with a. valve seat 3() adapted to be engaged Aby a needle valve 31.

lObviously when the needle valve 31 seats within the end of the passage `26, the supply of lubricant from the chamber 2Q to the passage 25 will be cut off. v y For actuating the valve 31 in dependence upon the temperatureof the engine, a ther'- mostat 32 is provided, which thermostat Y may have operative connection with the valve 31 as at 33. 4 be of any desired construction and may be The thermostat 32 may mounted atany` point on the 'engine or on the vehicle, in which the engine is installed. In the illustrative embodiment disclosed, the thermostat 32 is shown as constituting a bimetallic strip of metal secured to the interior of the chamber`20 as at 34. When the thermostat is located in this position, it will be actuated by the temperature of the lubricant which flows through the chamber 20, 4and since the temperature of the lubricant varies in dependence upon the temperature of the engine, the thermostat will accordingly be actuated in dependence upon the temperature of the engine.

It is to be clearly. understood, however, that the thermostat 32 may be located in any one of -a number of different places.v For example, the thermostat 32 may be located in the e-Xhaustmanifold of the engine so that as the temperature of the exhaust increases, the thermostat will be actuated to move the-valve 31. Or again if the engine is cooled by water in accordance with the general practice, the thermostat 32 might be located at point in the water circulatory system, whereby it will be .actuated whenthe temperature ofthe water increases to a predetermined degree. Briefly therefor, the thermostat may be located at any point where it will be effectedV by the temperature ofthe engine and may be conveniently located at any point where it will be in contact with. a .iiuid,`jthe flowwof whichiis eected by the operation of the engine and the temperature of which varies'in dependence upon the temperature of theengine.

In any event, wherever'the thermostat is located, this thermostat will be so calibrated as to hold thevalve 31 open when the engine is cold and to close the valve 31 when theA ltemperafture of the engine is raised te a predetermined degreef Therefore during Vthel starting of the engine, lubricant will beV forced Vfrom they chamber 2O through the passages 25, 26and 28 and will be discharged ony the cylinder walls. After the engine has been started, and its temperature has increasedl to the predetermined degree, the

i thermostat willrfunction to actuate the'valve 31 and cutoff the supply'pof lubricant from the chamber 20 to the cylinder walls.-

By arranging the passage 25 below the apertures 27 and below the chamber 20, this passage 25 will act as a sumpy and vwill always be filled with-lubricant. Whentherefore, the engine is being started, it'will not be necessary to fill the entire passage 25 before the cylinder walls will be lubricated.A This arrangement provides for an instantane-v ous lubrication of the cylinder walls im* mediately upon the vstarting of the engine and will eliminate entirely lthe wear on the pistons incident tothe initial starting lof the engine.l f 4 From the above, it is believed that the invention will be readily understood. The

` chamber 20 is adapted to ber arranged Ain communication vwith the force feed'lubricating system of the engine whereby it will be' constantly supplied withl .lubricantx under 5 pressure. Duringl the operation of theengine therewill `rbe a constant ysupply of lubricant under pressure'through the conduits 22to thefbrackets 12 .which form the 1- bearings for the tappets 13. Further, dur? ing the initial starting of the engine, KVthe valve 31 will be open andlubricant will be supplied to thecylinder walls. When, however, the temperature of the engineincreases due to the operation of the engine, the thermostat 32 will `function to close the valve 31 to prevent further lubrication oit the cylinder walls.

It will thusbe seen that the invention Aprovides a simple and efiicient means for de livering Vto the parts requiring it, aspecial quantity of lubricant when the engine is cold and is just starting into motion.V The device will operate automaticallyin dependence upon the temperature ofthe engine and lubricant to the cylinder walls at any temperature desired. v

While one form of the invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be clearly understood that the description is for the purpose of illustration only and is not. definitive of the limits of the inventivey idea. AThe right. is therefore reserved to make 4such changes in :the ldetails of `con-iy struction and arrangement of parts as will fall within Ythe claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1 1. The combination with an internal .co1nbustion engine having cylinders and tappeJ bearings, of a lubricant chamber adapted to receive a supply of lubricant under pressure, conduits for conducting `lubricant from said chamber to said cylindersand said bearings,

` one of said conduits.

2. The combination with an internal corn-v bustlon engine having cylinders andv tappet" 50 l bearings, of a lubricant chamber adapted to receive a supply of lubricant under pressure,

conduits for conducting lubricant from saidl chamber to said bearings, an additional con.-

chamber to said cylinders, and a thermostat in said lubricantV chamber for controlling the flowy of lubricantV from said chamber ,t5 said last mentioned conduit.

3. The combination withy an engine having a block provided with a plurality of cylinl ders, the wall of eachcylinder being promay be so set a'srto cut off the supply ofv purview y,of ythe attached tures.

and a thermostat in said llubricant chamber for controlling the flow of lubricant through duit -for Y conducting lubricant from said ber adapted, to receive a supply of libricant under pressure and adapted lto supply the Y said passage with lubricant, the said lubricant chamber beingarranged above the level o I vcant chamber, and a thermostat for actuatof the said passage,a valve inthe said'lubriing the said valve in dependence u-'ponthe temperature of the lubricant. vp `a. In combination an engine block having [a plurality of cylinders, the wall of each chamber whereby thesaid passagewill con-f stantly be filled withj'lubricant .irrespective y of the position of said valve. p Y Y 5. In combination, an. engine block pro-- being grooved to receivev piston rings and vthe wall ofthe cylinder being apertured, a

lubricant passage arranged belowy the aper- 9,0A vided with a cylinder, a piston mounted for y reciprocation in the cylinder, the said piston ture in the wall'oi the cylinder and 'being Y provided with a branch communicatingwith the' said aperture, a lubricant chamber adapted to receive a supply of lubricant unl Eder pressure, the said chamber being arranged above/th'e level of the said passage n .and a thermostatically actuated valve controlling thefflow of lubricant from said chamber to said passage. f Y In testimony whereof we affix our signa- HARRY e. SANGER.

rLoYn r. KrsHLrNn..

lvidedV with an aperture, of a lubricant pas? -i sage arranged within the said block, the said;

passage having branches communicating 65 with the said apertures, a lubricant charmV 

